A Rotherwick author has won a competition judged by world-renowned novelist Lee Child.

Richard T. Burke was selected as the winner of a competition for the best first page of a thriller.

His winning entry features in the book, Crimebits: 100 Opening Gambits for Great Thrillers, published by The Black Spring Press Group.

CrimeBits is a unique, interactive puzzle book including 100 first pages of thrillers, the best selected by the world-famous, best-selling author of the Jack Reacher series.

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Richard, left, will see his work featured in Crimebits: 100 Opening Gambits for Great Thrillers (Image: Richard T. Burke) Each first page is linked to a puzzle, ranging from crosswords, to wordsearches, to mystery logic puzzles created by L.A. Times puzzle setter, Robin Stears.

Burke is the author of six full-length novels including the Decimation trilogy and Assassin’s Web, which is set around the Basingstoke area.

He said: "It is a great honour to have been chosen for this prize by such an esteemed author as Lee Child.

"This award has already given me the impetus to get to work and complete the project.

"I only hope I can do justice to the concept and impress Lee (no pressure then!)."

Richard lives in Rotherwick with his wife, Judith, and dog, Elvis